Actually Getting Rich

Maldives segregates the locals from the tourists, and sells sun, sand and coral.

In the late 1961s, a foreign advisor on foreign investment had, struck tourism off the list of potential industries for Maldives. At the time, Male's airport , had only a makeshift runway, and transport between islands was restricted to traditional dhonis. The economy was depended on and almost everything else had to be imported. The expert could see no local funding to develop resorts in this necklace shaped group of idyllic islands scattered southwest of India's southern tip, west of Sri Lanka. Certainly, he did not foresee any foreign investor pumping money into tourism in a country that at that time did not even have a bank to its name.

But the Maldives lure nevertheless managed to attract adventure seekers. The uninhabited islets, the perfect white beaches, the coral reefs and the deep blue of the Indian Ocean, turned out to be attraction enough. The adventure- tourists spread the word, and slowly investment trickled in for the setting up of resorts. At first, they were crude cabana-type hostels with makeshift toilets, and lacking even a freshwater supply. Gradually, the offerings improved. In the mid-1970s, the government finally shook off the legacy of that long-departed investment expert and decided to accord priority to tourism. It began to organise for future growth in a planned manner.